Just played some EDH for the first time in a while, and my lack of playing has left me rusty with some of the finer rules interactions. I'd like to run a couple things past y'all.

1) If I am at 2 life and being attacked by two Grizzly Bears with no blockers, will my Intervention Pact let me live?

2) I know that I can use an instant to respond to the triggers off of a Manabarbs, but if i tap my lands to pay for the spell after announcing it, will the barbs hit me before the spell resolves?

3) Does copying a Relentless Assault with Twincast grant two additional combat phases, or are they redundant?

Thanks for the help!

yes, the pact is a replacement effect, so you gain life as the damage is being dealt. you never drop to 0.

yes, if you trigger an ability while casting a spell, it goes on the stack at the next available interval, which is once the spell is fully declared.

you get two.

Be careful about how you use those two extra combat phases, though, since your creatures will get untapped twice before the first extra combat phase, and not at all before the second extra combat phase.

Thanks you two, especially for that warning about the untapping. Not a lot of vigilance in my deck.

Minor note: The life is actually gained immediately after the damage is prevented, not at the exact same time. You're still right, because state-based actions aren't checked until after both the damage and the lifegain have happened and someone's about to gain priority, but there is a point where his life total hits 0, however briefly.

The difference doesn't matter here--it almost never will--but I figured I'd mention it in passing just in case.

huh, good to know.

you say "almost never will". out of curiosity, is there a corner case where it might?



PS: never mind, angel's grace. right?

That wasn't the one I was thinking of--mine was way more complicated and way less likely to occur--but yes, that's one.

Wait, doesn't prevention mean the damage isn't dealt in the first place? How would his life total drop to 0?

two bears

Oh, Intervention Pact only prevents one source. Ok then.